


cinderella

by worstgirl



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Babysitting, Gen, Implied Child Abuse, M/M, deere, esther is babey, esther’s back y’all!!, garrett is a Good Dad, it’s not that bad but it’s heavily insinuated, jake is trying his best, jeremy has no clue how to deal with kids, watching Disney movies, yet is somehow really good at dealing with kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 15:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19889953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worstgirl/pseuds/worstgirl
Summary: “Maria’s acting strange. Would you be able to take Esther for the day?”~~~or, jeremy and jake babysit esther and there’s no other point to this fic





	cinderella

The first call came on a date with Jake. Well, if a date could be considered making out on Jeremy’s living room couch, that is. Jake pulled away, looking at Jeremy’s phone with a confused air. No one called Jeremy, not since his dad had found the voice to text feature. (Which was honestly a nightmare, because he didn’t understand how to put in punctuation which ended up with a whole block of text that Jeremy had to decipher.)

“Ignore it.” Jeremy mumbled, trying to lean back in, but Jake pulled away, nodding to the phone. Jeremy stuck out his tongue at Jake, before picking up the phone— Garrett. “Hello? Is everything okay?” 

“Hello Jeremy, sorry to bother you.” The voice was oddly loud, as if he was trying to make himself heard. In the car, maybe. Which was technically illegal, but Jeremy was more worried for his little half-sister than anything. What had his mom done? “Nothing’s happened, really. But Maria’s acting strange. Would you be able to take Esther for the day?” 

Jeremy glanced at Jake, who was propped up on his elbows, tilting his head like a huge puppy. “Uh, give me a second.” He muted the phone with his hand. “D’you mind if Esther comes here?” 

Almost immediately, Jake broke into a grin. “Your little sister? She sounds like a cutie.” He tapped Jeremy’s nose, just to make it scrunch up and to make Jeremy blush. “Not as much as you, though.” 

Jeremy rolled his eyes affectionately. “Don’t replace me or anything.” He said, before uncovering his phone and speaking to Garrett again, hoping for some reason that he didn’t hear that. “Yeah, I can watch her today. I, uh, I have a friend here, but I promise she’ll be safe with us.” 

“Alright, I’ll be there in a few.” The line went dead. Jeremy set his phone aside with a slightly dramatic sigh. 

“Guess making out is out of the question?” Jake said teasingly, his arms wrapping around Jeremy’s waist. Jeremy rolled his eyes, leaning down to kiss him again, only for Jake to pull away. “Wait. Did you say replace earlier?” 

“It was just a joke, you know that, Jakey.“ Jeremy started, and he sounded like he was lying, even to himself. Stupid anxiety and insecurities and the stupid voice in his head telling him that he wanted to die.

Jake interrupted him, obviously skeptical. “Jeremy, do we need to have this talk again—“

“No!” Jeremy’s cheeks turned red, and he coughed awkwardly. He sounded sarcastic with his next sentence. “I know, I know. I’m great, you love me, and you’re not going to replace me with anyone hotter or cooler or smarter or cuter than me, but-“ 

A finger pressed against his lips stopped him from talking. “There’s no buts.” Jake said quietly. “I’m not going to replace you, I promise.” 

“Okay.” Jeremy’s voice was just as soft as he looked down at Jake, before leaning down to kiss him. Jake let him this time, but pulled away after only a few seconds.

“D’you really think I would actually, y’know, leave you for someone else?” The look on Jake’s face made Jeremy want to cry. Sure, they’d talked about this, a lot. They’d promised that they wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t a mutual decision. They couldn’t hurt each other like that. But Jeremy was still utterly terrified.

Jeremy was saved from having to answer by the doorbell ringing. “That’ll be them.” He pulled away from Jake, possibly a bit too quickly, before pulling open the door. Almost immediately, Esther came crashing into his knees, almost knocking him over with a happy cry of his name, and Jeremy couldn’t help a grin. “Hey there, kiddo.” He said with a small laugh, ruffling her hair. 

“Hey, I’m Jake, Jeremy’s boyfriend.” Thank god for his not socially awkward boyfriend. Except he could tell that Garrett and Jake were both giving each other the once-over. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.” They shook hands. Was that just a guy thing? Jeremy had no clue anymore. He was bad with guy things. And girl things. And just things in general.

“Sorry, we aren’t interrupting anything, are we?” Garrett said, sounding slightly awkward as he looked between Jake and Jeremy. That was when Jeremy realized his hair was probably messy— Jake had a bit of a habit of playing with it. Jeremy went red, fixing his hair. 

“No, nothing.” Jeremy said quickly, before he got distracted by Esther tugging on his sleeve. He looked down at the girl, who was holding her arms up. It took him a second to realize what she wanted.

“I normally wouldn’t ask, but I have to work late tonight and Maria’s—“ Garrett cut himself off, looking strangely awkward. 

“Being herself, yeah.” Jeremy reached down to scoop Esther up. Thank god she was small, otherwise he would drop her. He had to balance her on his hip a bit, but she didn’t seem to mind all that much. She was too intrigued with playing with Jeremy’s already messy hair. She pulled on a curl and let it go, giggling when it sprung back. 

Jake gave Garrett a grin. They were about the same height, which was a little weird. “We’ll take good care of her, sir.” 

Garrett nodded, before looking at his watch. Then, with a comment about how he had to get to work, disappeared down the driveway to his car, leaving Jeremy and Jake with a giggling six year old. 

There was a bit of slightly awkward silence, before Esther broke it, looking at Jake. “You’re Jeremy’s boyfriend?” She still couldn’t quite get the r in Jeremy’s name, but it was kind of adorable. 

“Yep, the one and only. Do you approve?” Jake said with a small grin. Jeremy added that to a list of things to be impressed about his boyfriend— good with kids. God, did this boy have to be good at everything? Esther reached out a hand, poking Jake’s cheek, then nodded. 

“Pretty.” That made both Jeremy and Jake go red, which was something Jeremy still got a little thrill out of seeing, and Jeremy coughed awkwardly. 

“I agree, Es.” He shot Jake a look when he saw the other boy raising his eyebrows teasingly out of the corner of his eye. “C’mon, are you— hungry?” He was lost. What did little kids do? He had suppressed most of his childhood memories. 

Esther nodded, so Jeremy carried her to the kitchen, sitting her on one of the chairs. She had to sit on her knees to see above the table. Jake, thank god, sat next to her, making sure she wouldn’t accidentally fall off. 

“I think we have some mac and cheese?” Jeremy was totally out of his element, but he did find a box in the cupboard, pulling it out. 

“Was mommy mean to you too?” Esther said, breaking the awkward silence, and Jeremy could feel himself freeze up, going white. Shit, he hadn’t anticipated that question. Not while Jake was there. Maybe he really should have told him about what had happened to make his mother leave. Jeremy felt Jake’s eyes on him, concerned and hurt. He couldn’t look at his face. 

“Es, I-I don’t wanna talk about her right now, okay?” God, why was his voice shaking? Why did she have to look so innocent as she made comments like that? 

Then— oh, god. She turned to Jake. “Was your mommy mean?”

Jeremy shut her down quickly. “Let’s talk about something other than mommies, okay?” He said, before shooting Jake a look that he hoped meant ‘Later’ but probably just looked constipated. “What’d you do today?” 

Esther launched into a story about crayons and someone named Stephanie, but Jeremy wasn’t paying all that much attention. He was a sucky older brother. After a bit, Jake stood, wrapping an arm around Jeremy’s waist and side hugging him gently. “Want me to give you a sec?” He mumbled. 

“You don’t have-“ Jake gave him a look that said ‘Finish that sentence and I smack you.’ “Fine- yeah, that’d be— that’d be great.” Jake nodded, kissing his head and turning to Esther. 

“Esther, d’you wanna come with me to the living room? We can build a fort— don’t tell Jeremy.” He said, as Jeremy pretended not to hear. He assumed that Esther nodded, because Jake scooped her up and carried her off, giggling. 

Once they were gone, Jeremy groaned, letting his head hit the cupboards above the stove. They’d barely had her for ten minutes, and already Jake probably knew more about his mom than Jeremy had wanted to tell him, and he was still caring for Jeremy’s little sister. That boy was a godsend. And Jeremy didn’t deserve him. 

He just hoped Esther stopped talking about parents. He didn’t want Jake to remember his parental shit any more than he wanted his boyfriend to know about his. Of course he cared, and he trusted Jake, but he had to keep something bottled up. Right?

Jeremy finished the mac and cheese, putting it in three bowls. Then he went to go into the living room— the couch had already turned into a makeshift fort with sheets he recognized from his own bed— thank god he’d cleaned them. And just before he was about to say something, he heard Esther speak from inside. 

“Are you gonna marry him?” Jeremy froze, his cheeks red. There was barely a beat of silence before Jake responded. 

“I sure hope so, kiddo.” 

Well, that added another confusing emotion to the mix. Jake wanted to marry him, which was both terrifying and wonderful. “Food’s done.” He said, and he smiled at Esther’s happy laugh. God, this girl was a cutie. 

They managed to keep the topic away from parents for long enough to get Esther invested in Tangled. Soon after Rapunzel left her tower, Esther fell asleep against Jeremy, tangled in the corner of one of his sheets. Jeremy gently shifted her off of his lap, laying her on a couch cushion with a blanket over her. 

He looked up as Jake took his hand, nodding towards the kitchen. He followed at his prompting, glancing over at Esther to make sure she was still asleep.

“Jer, do you need to tell me something?” 

Fuck, Jake was in protective mode. Usually it was kind of cute to see his eyebrows knit together and his little frown, but Jeremy only felt a confusing knot in his gut. 

“Look, it’s- it’s not a big deal, really.” Jeremy muttered, shuffling his feet on the floor. He traced the grooves on the kitchen tile. 

Jake was quiet. “You know I get parent bullshit—“

“Well, it’s better to be ignored than hated!” Jeremy burst out, before going silent, covering his mouth quickly. They were both silent for a few seconds, making sure Esther didn’t wake up. “I just- okay, whatever. My mom was a total bitch. And she hated me. And she-“ The words stopped in his throat. He couldn’t say them, he couldn’t actually admit that out loud. “And she might be doing the same things she did to me to Esther and I can’t-“ His breath caught, and he felt Jake’s arms pulling him in.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay.” Jake’s voice was soft, the words whispered against Jeremy’s hair. “You never told me.” 

“I- I didn’t want you to feel more sorry for me— or- or anything.” Jeremy muttered, his face pressed against Jake’s shoulder. 

“Jeremy. I don’t feel sorry for you. You think  _ I’d  _ feel sorry for you?” Jeremy didn’t respond. “I’m worried about you. I’m trying to get what’s in your head, but I just- I don’t.” He pulled away, kissing Jeremy’s head. “You have to tell me this shit. I mean, if you’re ready to.” 

Jeremy managed a small shaky laugh. “I- I just… I don’t know where to start, and I don’t want… I don’t want to wake Esther or anything.” He said softly, gripping at the other boy’s shirt. It was soft, and Jake always smelled like one of those winter candles at Bath and Body Works, the vanilla and winter berries ones. Idly, Jeremy wondered if he knew Jeremy liked them and made a point to smell like them. Maybe that was wishful thinking. 

“Later, then.” Jake pulled away just enough to tilt his chin up and kiss his nose. Jeremy’s nose wrinkled, and he couldn’t help but go pink. “Adorable.” 

“No.” Jeremy groaned, drawing out the ‘o’. This was easier than talking, the casual flirty banter they had. It made the girls in their group say ‘aw’ and Rich pretend to gag. 

“Yep.” Jake’s grin made Jeremy melt— who let his boyfriend be that attractive? It literally was unfair when he looked like the troll under the bridge. “C’mon, I wanna get pissed at Mother Gothel.” 

Jeremy let himself be pulled over to the blanket fort, managing a small smile as he was pulled in. He ended up curled with his head on Jake’s lap, watching the movie through half closed eyes, until he finally fell asleep. He could worry about his mother and Esther later. 

Later came about an hour later, when he woke up to a small child falling on top of him. “Jemmy!” 

Jeremy groaned, sitting up, feeling a hand drop away from his head. He glanced over at Jake, who had fallen asleep against the couch cushions, and he had to suppress the urge to kiss his jaw. Esther was way more important. “Yeah, kiddo?” He mumbled sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. 

“You’re awake!” Jeremy could practically hear the excitement in her voice. “Can we watch another movie? I promise I won’t fall asleep this time!” 

Jeremy paused for a moment, remembering something Maria had said when he was little. ‘Movies and games are for good kids who do well in school and do what they’re told.’ Needless to say, Jeremy hadn’t fit those requirements, he’d sucked in school, and at remembering what he was told to do. “Of course we can.” And so he sat, with his little sister on his lap, watching Cinderella. A while later, Jake woke up and went to make popcorn, and the sparkle in Esther’s dark eyes as she watched the mice sing was enough to make him melt. 

While he was gone, Jeremy bit his lip. “Hey. You see her?” He pointed at Cinderella. “She deals with people being mean to her all the time, and she’s still so happy and nice to everyone, all the animals and even her stepsisters. And she’s still got dreams and she’s determined to make them happen.” Esther nodded, and he thought she got the message. “Don’t let anyone mess with your dreams, okay, kiddo? You’re worth a happy ending, even if it’s with a prince or a princess or just a lot of good mouse friends. I promise.” 

He’d been so involved in his little speech, he hadn’t even noticed Jake sitting down next to them, and he glanced over, going red. Jake was giving him that little grin whenever Jeremy said something he thought was smart, the one that made Jeremy’s stomach turn into a puddle of gooey mush. 

“Were you a Cinderella, Jemmy?” Esther asked, in that heartbreakingly innocent way of hers. God, if only he could be that innocent again, without his mental health bullshit in the way. Sure, he’d have to talk about what it was like for him at that age with Jake eventually, but that was a conversation for another time. 

He was quiet for a moment, considering her question. Lived with bad relatives, did everything he could to please everyone, had friends no one understood, dreamed of something more than just a boring mundane life, gotten transformed until it all came crashing down, but somehow found a way to break free and find love. He let himself smile a bit, looking over at Jake, who gave him an encouraging smile. “You know what, Es? I think I was.” 

**Author's Note:**

> i was really touched by the amount of comments about how much you guys loved esther on my last story with her, and how you guys begged me to write more with her so here she is!! in all her adorable glory. thank you so much for reading and supporting me, even if i have the most spastic update schedule known to man.
> 
> stay safe, and stay wonderful, loves!!
> 
> ~percy


End file.
